Elden Ring - February 2022 (PC, PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES S/X)

[tfwnogf]

They buffed Radahn again (not quite to vanilla tho), turns out he wasn't meant to be as weak as they made him. Makes sense, he was pathetic for me to beat considering his lore of being a badass general and all that.

Some gripes with the game I have (because I like to complain):

- Some bosses are too aggressive and crazy for me. They have cool attacks and visuals but the combos can be 7-10 moves long, all of them have AoE moves, and the input reading they have feels unfair at times. They move at insane speeds compared to my character. Feels like I'm facing bloodborne/sekiro enemies with a dark souls moveset.
- The open world as beautiful as it is, is empty a lot of the time there is little reason to explore, often feels like it's there to get from point A to point B and that's it, feels a little too big for the amount of content. I went from being really excited how big the game is to feeling like I'll never do a second playthrough
- Too much reused content like the catacombs and mines
- The dungeons are great and feel like classic souls, though the "enemy waiting around a corner" or pick up an item and get ambushed happens way too often. It goes from playing patient and intelligent to being annoying to clear them.
- Too easy to level with somber stones, too time consuming to level regular weapons
- I wish they balanced the game around your level. Too often I am overlevelled or underlevelled, with no clear way to know what area you are supposed to be at for what level.
- Revenants are the worst enemy in the series lmao
- If this was their sendoff to souls before they do something else, I'm fine with that. The formula needs a retuning, it's been fun but Bloodborne was the peak imo


Overall I've enjoyed my time with the game. I like the spirit ashes (shoutout to my girl Tiche) and all the funny messages/bloodstains I see gives the game some life a lot of other open worlds lack.

 

[Kranix]

They buffed Radahn again (not quite to vanilla tho), turns out he wasn't meant to be as weak as they made him. Makes sense, he was pathetic for me to beat considering his lore of being a badass general and all that.

Some gripes with the game I have (because I like to complain):

- Some bosses are too aggressive and crazy for me. They have cool attacks and visuals but the combos can be 7-10 moves long, all of them have AoE moves, and the input reading they have feels unfair at times. They move at insane speeds compared to my character. Feels like I'm facing bloodborne/sekiro enemies with a dark souls moveset.
- The open world as beautiful as it is, is empty a lot of the time there is little reason to explore, often feels like it's there to get from point A to point B and that's it, feels a little too big for the amount of content. I went from being really excited how big the game is to feeling like I'll never do a second playthrough
- Too much reused content like the catacombs and mines
- The dungeons are great and feel like classic souls, though the "enemy waiting around a corner" or pick up an item and get ambushed happens way too often. It goes from playing patient and intelligent to being annoying to clear them.
- Too easy to level with somber stones, too time consuming to level regular weapons
- I wish they balanced the game around your level. Too often I am overlevelled or underlevelled, with no clear way to know what area you are supposed to be at for what level.
- Revenants are the worst enemy in the series lmao
- If this was their sendoff to souls before they do something else, I'm fine with that. The formula needs a retuning, it's been fun but Bloodborne was the peak imo


Overall I've enjoyed my time with the game. I like the spirit ashes (shoutout to my girl Tiche) and all the funny messages/bloodstains I see gives the game some life a lot of other open worlds lack.

I think the meat and magic of the game is Limgrave and Liurnia, and then it gets spread a little too thin after that. I guess that makes sense as pretty much everything is optional after two great runes (usually those two). The game is like a huge Dark Souls level spread thin. Roaming around the world is cool, but it gets quite hollow and tedious after a while. Compared to botw, which, with the ability to climb anywhere, had more discovery and awe throughout the entire open world.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I think the meat and magic of the game is Limgrave and Liurnia, and then it gets spread a little too thin after that. I guess that makes sense as pretty much everything is optional after two great runes (usually those two). The game is like a huge Dark Souls level spread thin. Roaming around the world is cool, but it gets quite hollow and tedious after a while. Compared to botw, which, with the ability to climb anywhere, had more discovery and awe throughout the entire open world.

I do feel its spread thin as well but leyndell is definitely way better than liurna

 

[blue425]

I kept hearing about how it falls apart at the end. Hate to say it, but I kind of agree.

End game (I'll include Elphael too) feels balanced around co op. Radagon and Godfrey's first phase's are fine. Then Godfrey turns (as someone else said) into a Sekiro boss and you're moving in mud. From has shown in the past they can make incredibly challenging and fair bosses and the list is a long one. I'm not sure what happened here.

Elden Beast sucks too. Nice to look at, but I didn't want to chase dragons around and I have to chase you too?

They could have cut out everything after Lyndell and been the better for it. I would have kept Maliketh, Radagon, and Malenia and found other arenas earlier in the game for them. I didn't need to fight phantoms of every boss.

Sometimes less is more.

Will I keep playing? Yes. For a bit. Probably through the end of NG+

Curious as to what the future holds.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I don’t find the world to be dead or spread to thin at all. There seems to be enemies everywhere I go, but not too many. I appreciate it because it allows for exploration to find things you maybe would not have otherwise.

 

[Kranix]

I do feel its spread thin as well but leyndell is definitely way better than liurna

Leyndell as a dungeon is amazing and better than Raya Lucaria, but Liurnia of the Lakes is a better open world land than Altus, Volcano, Caelid, Snowfield, Mountain Tops, imo

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Great game. One of my faves. Hope they release some DLC to flesh out Marika and her brood a bit more.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

I just got Moonveil - holy crap it’s powerful.

I had specced my character to be able to eventually equip it, so I felt pretty useless for a lot of Stormveil. Lots of points into Intelligence that I wasn’t getting a lot out of. Obviously would have been more powerful had I put it into vigor, dexterity, etc.

The boss to get the katana was also so difficult. I was shaking when I finally beat him at Level 45 lol. But it was clearly worth it - I just kicked the crap out of the boss in the Sellia Crystal Tunnels relying purely on its sheath attack and dodging to further upgrade the sword. Definitely made all those early upgrades into intelligence worth it.

Epic game.

 

[syz]

Great game. One of my faves. Hope they release some DLC to flesh out Marika and her brood a bit more.

DLC feels like it'll be Miquella stuff (and there's some cut content in the files that also suggests this.) We kinda get Marika's deal by the end either way.

 

[aleshemsky83]

DLC feels like it'll be Miquella stuff (and there's some cut content in the files that also suggests this.) We kinda get Marika's deal by the end either way.

Spoiler

It seems like hell have attained godhood like Marika and there'll be a St. Trina / Miquella dynamic.

 

[aleshemsky83]

For anybody else thats looking for a counter to getting nukes launched at you by sorcerers. Barrier of gold breaks pretty much any magic build. Adds like 60% magic absorbtion on top of any magic absorbtion you already have, its almost unfair, You only need 24 faith to cast it, meanwhile a magic build needs 37 faith to cast law of causality to dispel barrier of gold), they never have it. You can just walk through their spells even if they have infinite FP. I wouldn't be surprised to see it nerfed.

 

[blue425]

For anybody else thats looking for a counter to getting nukes launched at you by sorcerers. Barrier of gold breaks pretty much any magic build. Adds like 60% magic absorbtion on top of any magic absorbtion you already have, its almost unfair, You only need 24 faith to cast it, meanwhile a magic build needs 37 faith to cast law of causality to dispel barrier of gold), they never have it. You can just walk through their spells even if they have infinite FP. I wouldn't be surprised to see it nerfed.

I don't PvP in ER, but how does Carian Retaliation hold up against magic builds?

 

[aleshemsky83]

I don't PvP in ER, but how does Carian Retaliation hold up against magic builds?

I've never used it and have never run into it. I'm guessing whatever glitch is floating around has been patched.

I don't really keep tabs on the meta and only recently started dueling. I only discovered this because it made fighting Sir Gideon such a joke.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Gotta say, Bloodhound's Step is a game changer.

I'm running it on a cold Uchi in my main hand as a mage, with staff offhand and it makes a huge difference. Moonveil as a secondary offhand for dual wielding when things get in tight and I'm having a blast.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I finally used the fingerprint shield. Oh man its completely broken. And by broken I mean I think its actually glitched. A +10 fingerprint shield with a greatshield talisman loses no stamina your guard is literally unbreakable. Im gonna enjoy this one before it gets patched.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I don't PvP in ER, but how does Carian Retaliation hold up against magic builds?

Lol, Its not patched.

 

[x Tame Impala]

The co-op multiplayer is unbelievably fun

 

[x Tame Impala]

So i've been playing more the last week or so, never played a Souls game before. Beat my first boss Margit(?), the guy with the tail and the golden hammer/bolts. I'm only a level 28 though. How do you guys get up to levels in the 100's??? I saw one poster say he was level 200+!

Do you grind runes? I'm killing most enemies i see and i'm still progressing at a snail's pace

 

[pistolpete11]

So i've been playing more the last week or so, never played a Souls game before. Beat my first boss Margit(?), the guy with the tail and the golden hammer/bolts. I'm only a level 28 though. How do you guys get up to levels in the 100's??? I saw one poster say he was level 200+!

Do you grind runes? I'm killing most enemies i see and i'm still progressing at a snail's pace

Level 28 by the time you get to Margit is pretty standard, I'd say. If anything, you might have been overleveled

You shouldn't really have to grind runes in Elden Ring. If you are underleveled for an area, just go explore somewhere else and come back later when you are naturally a few levels higher.

As far as how fast you are progressing, it will pick up. The further into the game you get, the more runes you will get. Enemies and bosses drop more and you can find higher level Golden Runes. Also, there is A LOT more game. So......just keep going. You're doing fine

 

[Andrei79]

Level 28 by the time you get to Margit is pretty standard, I'd say. If anything, you might have been overleveled

You shouldn't really have to grind runes in Elden Ring. If you are underleveled for an area, just go explore somewhere else and come back later when you are naturally a few levels higher.

As far as how fast you are progressing, it will pick up. The further into the game you get, the more runes you will get. Enemies and bosses drop more and you can find higher level Golden Runes. Also, there is A LOT more game. So......just keep going. You're doing fine

Honestly, there might be too much game. Like, there shouldn't be less, but at my age with work and kids it's huge.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Honestly, there might be too much game. Like, there shouldn't be less, but at my age with work and kids it's huge.

Just means you get to play it for longer and bask in its greatness

 

[Voodoo Child]

So i've been playing more the last week or so, never played a Souls game before. Beat my first boss Margit(?), the guy with the tail and the golden hammer/bolts. I'm only a level 28 though. How do you guys get up to levels in the 100's??? I saw one poster say he was level 200+!

Do you grind runes? I'm killing most enemies i see and i'm still progressing at a snail's pace

I finished my first and last NG+ at 352. 60V, 50END, 80STR, 65FAI with no less than 35 anywhere else and the Fire Giant still kicked my ass about fifteen times, Malenia would be at least fifty. You can get gud, or continue to be gud at RPGs and know the rules, the bigger number usually wins.

I say last NG+ because the game starts awesome and keeps going but by the third act it becomes an absolute slog of uninspired areas and ridiculous bosses - but if you get there then that means you’re invested, right?

NG+ at level 260 and suddenly this game is just as accessible as any AC game for the first 2/3. My guy could have been twirling a cane and whistling a tune walking through Stormveil, the Academy, Volcano Manor and Farum Azula, but Leyndell was still a little tense.

You can and should grind levels, you’ll be like Bobrovsky and asked to turn in your badge and gun below level 45 at the Academy (it’s not easy at 65 either, the rest of Stormveil itself is a healthy challenge at 45), but early game you’ll be limited to

Spoiler

popping off vulgar militia near the Bestial Sanctum, use backstab and then just pound away because they can still one hit you if you aren’t careful, for about 1100 runes a piece and 20,000 runes every 5-7 minutes.

 

[pistolpete11]

Honestly, there might be too much game. Like, there shouldn't be less, but at my age with work and kids it's huge.

There could probably be less game. I'm not even that far into it myself (only beat 2 of the demigods) and there is some redundancy.

 

[Kranix]

I finished my first and last NG+ at 352. 60V, 50END, 80STR, 65FAI with no less than 35 anywhere else and the Fire Giant still kicked my ass about fifteen times, Malenia would be at least fifty. You can get gud, or continue to be gud at RPGs and know the rules, the bigger number usually wins.

I say last NG+ because the game starts awesome and keeps going but by the third act it becomes an absolute slog of uninspired areas and ridiculous bosses - but if you get there then that means you’re invested, right?

NG+ at level 260 and suddenly this game is just as accessible as any AC game for the first 2/3. My guy could have been twirling a cane and whistling a tune walking through Stormveil, the Academy, Volcano Manor and Farum Azula, but Leyndell was still a little tense.

You can and should grind levels, you’ll be like Bobrovsky and asked to turn in your badge and gun below level 45 at the Academy (it’s not easy at 65 either, the rest of Stormveil itself is a healthy challenge at 45), but early game you’ll be limited to

Spoiler

popping off vulgar militia near the Bestial Sanctum, use backstab and then just pound away because they can still one hit you if you aren’t careful, for about 1100 runes a piece and 20,000 runes every 5-7 minutes.

I started my NG+ at lv 160. absolutely breezed through Stormveil and Lucaria. Made short work of the tree sentinal guarding the capital. I'm guessing the third act post-Leyndell will start to kick my ass though.

 

[Voodoo Child]

I started my NG+ at lv 160. absolutely breezed through Stormveil and Lucaria. Made short work of the tree sentinal guarding the capital. I'm guessing the third act post-Leyndell will start to kick my ass though.

Leyndell was only tough because I missed a few things, Goldmask, Golden Order Seal, Bolt of Gransax etc.

So of course I had to get them but I’m not gonna use them - RH Rivers of Blood +10 (I don’t PvP) Dark Moon Greatsword +10, LH Pulley Bow +10 with like 500 Rotbone Arrows, Clawmark Seal +25, and I went full Fashion with my armor to add a little challenge.

There’s at least one Omen, at least one Gargoyle and at least three Crucible Knights - not as memey as the Haligtree and its endless Cleanrot Knights, Royal Revenants, Erdtree Avatars and a couple of Crystallians because f*** you that’s why, but it’s certainly tougher than Farum Azula, which feels ultra linear and a little lazy to me.


The last areas of the game have all of the meme tier bosses.

The Fire Giant is big but also just jumps around the arena, he has homing magic, he can one hit 50 Vigor, and above all else the camera is terrible. He’s the worst boss in the game.

The Foreskin Duo aren’t too bad if you’re at level 180, but how much would it suck being like level 125 and hitting a wall against them? I guarantee it happens to people.

Niall and Maliketh are super fun, fair boss fights at lv 150+. You’ll probably die a few times but it’s never cheesy. Maliketh is my favorite boss in the game, Radahn, Rykard, Mohg and Red Wolf of Radagon round out my top five.

Godfrey/Hoarah Loux is also a nice, fair fight. The last boss is more disappointing than outright bad.

Malenia Malenia Malenia…on the one hand she’s the game’s biggest challenge, but on the other: Waterfowl Dance, Scarlet Rot, Lifesteal even if you block her and attacking duplicates. She doesn’t need all four of those, she’s way over-tuned.